Can Brillantes mount poll reforms on time?

DARK EDGES: This week of the SONA looks a bit grim in a way. But we do not read anything into it.

We just note that: at least 20 persons were killed, nine were missing, and 11 sea mishaps were reported, as tropical storm Juaning brought floods and landslides to scattered areas of Luzon; an aunt of President Noynoy Aquino — Mrs. Josephine Cojuangco Reyes — died after collapsing during the necrological service the other day for Don Pedro Cojuangco; former President Gloria Arroyo is set to undergo surgery after she was rushed to the hospital as her back pains traced to pinched nerves in her spine worsened.

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STATE OF EDSA: My earlier Postscript saying that the State of the Nation is mirrored in the state of Epifanio delos Santos Ave. traffic struck a sympathetic chord among some readers. Sample feedback:

Barry Williams: “Please tell whoever is in charge of EDSA that their management of EDSA is unprofessional, incompetent, and outright negligent. All an investor needs to do to learn all he/she needs to know about the Philippines and how they do business here is to fly into Manila, take a taxi along EDSA up to Quezon City and then return to the airport.

“The potential investor will learn that no one cares about the condition of the major artery through Manila, will see that it is dangerously designed with the far left lane abruptly coming to an end and creating a traffic bottleneck, that the buses have no regard for the safety of drivers or even their own passengers, that buses pump out more smoke than a forest fire and are never ticketed. The list of deficiencies is so embarrassingly long.

“If the way EDSA is managed is representative of how business/government here is done, the investor will quickly realize that not only is his money not safe, but maybe his life too is at risk.”

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MAR’S ACID TEST: On my saying that EDSA is the acid test of Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas and that if he could clean up that mess in the capital’s main artery he would be my candidate for president in 2016, reader Godofredo Robes said:

“Solving the traffic mess on EDSA doesn’t make you a good president, it makes you a good traffic engineer. To be a good president is to forget the party where you came from and learn how to put the country’s economic priority on your agenda.

“You should forget your vindictive heritage when you become president. History shows that the Aquino family has a tendency to be vindictive, they shut down businesses they suspect are affiliated with their opponents or enemies. They never take into account those people and workers who make a living out of those companies.”

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BRILLIANT IDEA: At the Commission on Elections, chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. has been pursuing some interesting plans on how to reform the notoriously dirty electoral system.

Barely six months in office, the veteran election lawyer who is familiar with what ails the system has been pooling people from the Comelec and the community to help him put in place reforms before the 2013 and 2016 elections.

Insiders say Brillantes has been busy lately, seeking the help of stakeholders in refining and laying down policies, rules and regulations, and programs on issues bogging down the Comelec and its clientele.

The desired perspective is not only macro, but also goes down to the small issues such as services. This is being done with an appreciation of complaints, suggestions and recommendations received through years of feedback.

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POLL SPENDING: Brillantes has been consulting non-government organizations and poll watchdogs such as the International Foundation for Electoral System and the Center for People Empowerment in Governance. He has made them part of the policy-making process.

The collaboration with NGOs and election watch groups has resulted in a Campaign Finance Unit in the Comelec that will monitor and regulate campaign spending, pursue strict enforcement of laws on electoral expenses and donations, and prosecute violators.

Campaign spending has been a long-standing issue that nobody has dared to touch. Although it is obvious that overspending is the rule rather than the exception, the only politician of note ever penalized for overspending was then Sen. Raul Manglapus.

And that was only because the senator from the Ateneo took the unusual route of admitting he spent more than what the law allowed.

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INTERNAL ETHICS: There is the related matter of election campaign contributions, how to track their velocity, as well as the persons and entities involved. It is common knowledge that such contributions, like bets on the gambling table, feed corruption in public office.

Should public funds be also used as counterpart money for campaign expenses of accredited political parties? If so, to what extent and in what manner?

The Comelec under Brillantes will also have to look into its own Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards. After the Bedol experience and the case of another Comelec officer on the carpet for election sabotage, the problem comes to the fore again.

Brillantes will have to clean up not only the premises and the system, but also raise the ethical standards of his agency’s personnel. The Comelec has to erase the impression that its own officials are part of the money-driven problem.

Before the country is engulfed in another national election, Brillantes will have to show some genuine and doable reforms. After aiming the gun with the silver bullet, will he be able to pull the trigger?

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FOLLOWUP: Access past POSTSCRIPTs at www.manilamail.com. Follow this columnist at Twitter.com/FDPascual. E-mail feedback to [email protected]